Geoffroy's Rousette
Encyclopedia
The Geoffroy's Rousette, (Rousettus amplexicaudatus), is a species of megabat
or old world
fruit bat
s.
: Myanmar
, Thailand
, Cambodia
, Laos
, Vietnam
, Singapore
, Indonesia
, the island of Borneo
, East Timor
, the Philippines
, the Solomon Islands
and Bismarck Archipelago
, and Papua New Guinea
.
were collected from coconut plantations on Mantani Island and the highland of Crocker Range
while the one from Sarawak
was from Niah Cave. This medium-sized bat normally roosts in caves; feeds on fruit, nectar and pollen (Payne et al. 1985). It roosts dark caves, rock crevices and old tombs (Lekagul and McNeely 1977).
The Monfort Bat Cave in the Southern Philippines has the largest gathering of these bats.
Megabat
Megabats constitute the suborder Megachiroptera, family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera . They are also called fruit bats, old world fruit bats, or flying foxes.-Description:...
or old world
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
fruit bat
Fruit Bat
Fruit Bat can refer to:* Megabats, a species of bat which eats fruit* Les "Fruitbat" Carter, guitarist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine* Fruit Bats , an American band...
s.
Distribution
The Geoffroy's Rousette occurs throughout the whole of Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
: Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the island of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
and Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
, and Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
Description
Like other fruit bats, R. amplexicaudatus have sensitive hearing and sense of smell and good eyesight which help them to manoeuvre well during flight, specifically at night. What makes them different from other fruit bats is their echolocating ability. It can be distinguished by their grey-brown to brown upperpart which is darker on top of their head and paler underpart which is usually grey-brown. They have long pale hairs on the chin and neck despite having short and sparse fur. They sometimes have pale yellow tufts of hair on the side of the neck which occur in adult for this species, especially males. Most males are substantially larger than females. The most distinguishable figure of this bat besides producing a distinctive, audible clicking call is their wings. It is attached to the sides of the back and separated by a broad band of fur. The lower incisors are bifid, the canines have a longitudinal groove on the outer surface which is slightly medial to center and the first premolars are smaller than second premolars, especially on the upper jaw.Biology and Ecology
Specimens in the Sabah MuseumSabah Museum
The Sabah Museum is the state Museum of Sabah, Malaysia. It is sited on 17 ha of land at Bukit Istana Lama in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital. The complex contains not only the museum proper, but also an ethnobotanic garden, a zoo and a heritage village. The main building also houses the Sabah...
were collected from coconut plantations on Mantani Island and the highland of Crocker Range
Crocker Range
Crocker Range , is a mountain range on the island of Borneo. Politically, it is within the boundary of the Malaysian state of Sabah, located in the northern half of Borneo. The mountain range separates the east coast and west coast of Sabah. At an average height of 1800m, it is the highest mountain...
while the one from Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
was from Niah Cave. This medium-sized bat normally roosts in caves; feeds on fruit, nectar and pollen (Payne et al. 1985). It roosts dark caves, rock crevices and old tombs (Lekagul and McNeely 1977).
The Monfort Bat Cave in the Southern Philippines has the largest gathering of these bats.